


Hearing the Music, Learning the Dance

by Fuguestate



Category: The Shape of Water (2017)
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Slow Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 04:25:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15941744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuguestate/pseuds/Fuguestate
Summary: The Princess Without Voice, and what happened next.





	Hearing the Music, Learning the Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> Written for the prompt: 
> 
> _"Post-TSOW with Elisa and the Asset living happily in their underwater kingdom and seeing Giles and Zelda."_
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

She awoke to light flickering above her in the darkness. She felt disembodied, almost weightless, and wondered if this was what dying was.

Except… she was breathing. And as her eyes focused, she could see that the light above her was broken into ripples, and her clothing felt strange as she shifted. She felt someone holding her hands, and as she glanced down she saw _him_ rise into view in front of her – floating, as she was, with blue light illuminating his scales. He was looking at her like he'd just been given the whole world, waiting patiently while she assimilated what was happening. 

How was she still breathing? They were underwater, it shouldn't be possible… but here she was, and here he was, and he was folding her into a weightless embrace. She held him close, wondering as she found her body already moving in the water as if it was the most logical thing for her to be doing. She both heard and felt his voice, as she had that insane and wonderful day when she'd flooded her bathroom for them. It made her tighten her arms about him for a moment, savoring how at ease he felt at last.

Slowly, she pulled back a bit to look at him. His beautiful eyes held hers and he gave a soft chirp, moving his hands down to hold hers again as he gently pulled her to swim with him. Her hands tightened, and she paused to look up, back toward the lights that showed where the docks – and her friends – were. Were they safe? Was Strickland still up there? She looked back to him, and saw him wilt at her hesitation. Quickly she leaned in to him, trying to reassure with a soft touch of her lips to his, cradling his face gently in her hands as she continued acclimating to this new world she found herself in. Leaning back, she signed " _friend_ " in the way she'd tried teaching him when they were with Giles, looking upward. Carefully she repeated it, making the motion slow and deliberate as her index fingers hooked together first one way, then the other, while questioning him with her eyes. Understanding dawned, and he took her hand again to pull them in a different direction, and they slowly rose to look above the surface some distance away. 

She could make out silhouettes framed by the lights of the dock – white-helmeted MPs, some of them shining flashlights into the water. Most were milling near their vehicles, with seemingly no one in charge. Near the edge of the dock were two figures – she immediately recognized Giles' posture as he hunched his shoulders against the rain, and was surprised to see Zelda standing next to him. They were surrounded by Occam's people, but they didn't seem to be in any danger. If anything, they stood nearly forgotten at the edge of the dock while the MPs gathered a body onto a stretcher and took it away.

Her friends were safe, for now. And Strickland had been the only other person on the dock. She found herself fiercely hoping that that was his body they were taking away. More than anything else, though, Elisa wished she could try to catch her friends' attention, to let them know she was all right. To say goodbye. Hot tears burned behind her eyes, and she nearly choked as a sob caught her between water and air. Folding in on herself, she re-submerged with no small amount of surprise at how naturally the action came to her. Whatever her love had done, she was well and truly changed now…and she couldn't be sorry for it, no matter how much being parted from her friends hurt. She looked down, realizing she had lost one of her shoes. The remaining one looked odd with no partner, and there was no point to them here, anyway. She reached to take it off, and considered it for a moment. They were some distance from Giles and Zelda, but not completely out of sight from that vantage point. Maybe, if one of them were to return during the day…

Elisa made her careful way to the surface again, as _he_ watched. There was a crane nearby, with a ladder that led down to the water. With the utmost care, she silently reached up, setting the heel of the bright red shoe into the grate of one rung near the water where maybe - _maybe_ it could be seen by someone trying to find such a thing from where Giles and Zelda stood. It was the best she could do.

She spared one last look to her friends, and the glimpse of lights from the cinema marquee outside her home. With a last _I love you_ , she rejoined her love below the surface, and let him lead her away.

-

They swam quickly, though she could tell he was moving more slowly than he could, whether for her sake or due to his health, she couldn't tell. She could barely see in the dark water, only catching glimpses here and there of vague submerged shapes illuminated by lights along the shore. She should have been terrified to be surrounded by so much darkness, heading who-knew-where… but his touch was always on her, holding her hand or keeping his hand at her waist as they swam, and he moved with such purpose that she had no thought of questioning their direction.

In time, she could sense a change in the water around them; neither smell nor taste, she couldn't have described it. But soon enough, there was a difference in the direction of flow, and a change in clarity. She saw sand drifting around them in places, and then long bands of what turned out to be kelp, and realized they'd reached the ocean. From there, their illumination shifted from the occasional beam of electric light to the more constant, gentle glow from the moon as the clouds gradually parted. Elisa was amazed at how much she could see by such soft light, and couldn't help but marvel at the way it glistened along her lover's scales. This was _real_ … she still could hardly believe it. Ever since that first day, when his hand had slammed against the metal tomb that confined him, Elisa's world had seemed to become more colorful, more _luminous_ , than ever before. It was like hearing a voice she'd never known she'd been waiting for.

As if in answer, _he_ sang briefly – a long, wavering note that held such joy, she beamed to hear it. He turned, facing her as they swam, briefly letting go to indulge in a spin. She laughed, rejoining their hands and guiding them both in a slow spiral forward, imagining the music that would surround them as they spun. The ocean was their ballroom, tiny particles in the water shining like stars around them. If this was a dream, she thought, she could stay here forever.

-

Throughout their journey, Elisa could feel herself changing. She knew the water should feel cold, but it never bothered her. She could eat almost everything _he_ could, and it tasted wonderful - she loved seeing his obvious pleasure when she enjoyed something new he would bring her. Her garments became worn, but they also became uncomfortable at times, leading her to discard or alter them as she discovered more of her body's adaptations. Or, she wondered, was she finally becoming what she'd always been? The short webbing between her fingers felt exactly right, she thought, as did the delicate lines of narrow fins she could see at her calves. Every now and then she thought she could see an iridescence glimmering along her skin, and she imagined what patterns they might eventually become. She caught glimpses of her reflection at times, in sunken pieces of metal or glass, or very rarely if they ventured on land near unoccupied structures. She marveled at the gills fluttering at her neck, and the way the pupils of her eyes seemed to open wider now. Her hair seemed to be growing longer, but also thicker; it was heavy enough now that it didn't easily float up to obscure her vision as she swam. Her limbs, already toned from the demands of her work, grew even more powerful, belying her soft curves.

She taught him more signs as they went, and he was a voracious student. On one night in particular, they stayed in the same spot instead of traveling on because he wanted to know the signs for everything she could tell him. They progressed quickly from simple labels – _tree, flower, moon_ – to actions - _swim, walk_ …and then ideas - _danger, safe, hurt, hungry, happy_. That was the night he very deliberately signed _I love you_ , and their lessons dissolved into getting lost in one another until well into the day.

With every night that passed she felt stronger and more capable, and watched as _he_ seemed to as well. She learned how to sense when they were nearer or farther from fresh or salt water, and the advantages of each. She became aware of various creatures near them, often before they were visible, and was ecstatic when she discovered she could sense _him_ in that way as well. He would occasionally play when their surroundings were obstructed or dark, encouraging her to find him with this new skill. Her reward would be an all-encompassing embrace when she found him, which often derailed the game when they decided remaining in each other's arms was more compelling.

On the rare occasions when she could see recognizable landmarks, she would be amazed at how far they'd traveled. Eventually signs and overheard voices ceased to be in English, as the vegetation and wildlife became more lush and colorful. Along with more birds and fish than she ever knew existed, she saw all manner of predators above and below the surface of the water. Some were huge enough to swallow her in two bites if they'd chosen to, but nothing challenged them; the farther south they traveled, it was as though everything that lived there recognized _him_ and made way for them.

They reached what had to be the Amazon River, and she was nearly dizzy with the accomplishment. As they moved to follow it, _he_ became increasingly energetic, indulging in spins and loops as they swam. The moment finally came when he paused, looking around, and then turned to her in excitement to make a gesture with closed fingertips moving back and forth at the side of his face: _Home_. They were following an inland jut of the river, the moonlight glowing on vegetation so dense it appeared to be solid all along the shore. The humming of insects and occasional cries of other nocturnal life surrounded them while countless stars glowed above. _Home_ , he repeated, then dove backward under the surface and she heard his long, joyous cry echo in the forest from under the water. It was answered by countless animals he'd seemingly awakened – birds and monkeys screeching at intervals from the trees, and splashes from the odd pink-tinged dolphins they'd encountered on the way here. Delighted, she watched her love race them, tireless even after having traveled for so long. This was what she was here for – this made all their trials before now worthwhile.

-

They no longer needed to travel, but there was no single place they stayed. Rather, they would wander as they pleased, stopping for one or more days as the mood took them. She had already encountered many creatures she'd only read about in books – giant river otters as large as she was, gentle manatees, and even the fierce piranha that had briefly given her nightmares as a child. The latter turned out to be as fierce-looking as the grainy photograph had implied, but she learned they behaved largely like any other fish, and had beautiful shimmering silver scales that would catch the moonlight like jewels. On land, she enjoyed exploring at dawn and dusk, when it was easier to see the myriad of birds and even monkeys sailing raucously through the canopy above. Closer to the ground were placid capybara, darkly beautiful jaguars and anaconda, and tiny gem-like frogs as lethal as any large predator. She saw death, and mourned it, but she also saw life continue and grow from it, and could feel how each belonged to the other.

Sometimes as they explored, they found areas that had obviously suffered from people like Strickland, where the ground was torn and the water was soured. The first time Elisa saw a place like this, with swaths of forest stripped out and the river clogged with filth, she discovered another of her abilities – she glared at the damage, wanting only to wash it away, and suddenly there were clouds gathering, and rain beginning to pound down. The suddenness of it shocked her, and the rain quickly stopped… but when she looked over to _him_ with a question in her eyes, he only signed _good_ to her, seeming to smile as he tilted his head up into the last falling drops.

They began repairing what they could. Where _he_ walked, life would return more quickly to the torn vegetation. The rains she could call would clear the water faster, and – much to her delight – would often result in swaths of mud and endlessly tangling vines that rendered the areas undesirable to trespassers. Small victories, but they were deeply satisfying. The forest and the river thrived wherever they went.

-

An evening came when she awoke to an odd sight above them - countless flowers, all different sizes and colors, floated on the surface of the water. Together they surfaced in the shallows, the colorful blooms eddying around their waists. One of them had caught in her hair and she laughed, lifting it out. She remembered what she overheard in the lab at Occam and looked to _him_ in question, but he only plucked the flower from her fingers and placed it back in her hair as the drift of flowers continued down the river.

 _He_ was fortunately with her the first time she saw anyone else. They were drowsing in the cradle of a half-submerged tree as dawn approached, but she snapped fully awake when she heard a gasp from the opposite shore. Sitting up, she met the eyes of a woman with dark skin and perfectly straight black hair staring at them in obvious surprise. Instantly she tensed, and was only half-surprised to hear a rumble of thunder around them. It was only when she felt _his_ hand laid gently at her shoulder that she stopped, and was reassured by his unperturbed expression. By the time she looked back, the woman was gone.

They saw other people at intervals. Only a few at a time, at most, and all looking like the woman she'd first seen. Some would murmur softly and go back the way they'd come when they saw her; some would bring food – fruit, or a large fish. She found she'd missed the presence of other people, and would smile or sometimes wave when she saw one of their visitors. The first few times their reaction would be to freeze like frightened rabbits – she supposed she could understand, given her first response. She still tried, though, moving slowly as she had with _him_ in those first days, carefully signing _thank you_ for their gifts. _He_ began doing so as well, which surprised them to no end. Once a child dared to echo the sign back to them and she gave a delighted smile, signing _good_ back to her. It began a tentative exploration on everyone's part, and slowly the two of them built a language with the others.

Time passed. She and her love were a part of the river and its life, caring for it and being cared for in return. The nights blended into a complex and beautiful tapestry, not without pain, but more deeply beautiful for their having endured and survived it when it came. She thought sometimes of her friends, and the life she'd left behind… she hoped they were well. She wondered what they would think if they could see her here. She wished she could see them, just once, to say she loved them.

And then the night came when their visitors told them of others coming – others who knew her language and could speak as she did. One light, one dark; one man, one woman; alien and awkward, seemingly as helpless as children, but knowing her name for herself that she'd taught them. They would bring these two to her, if she wanted?

She did, and the river itself sang when they arrived.

 

-

 

**Author's Note:**

> " _…--the legends surrounding the Amazon River, one of the most persistent through history is the story of Deus Brânquia – also referred to in older versions as O Solitario - and later of his mate, known sometimes as Deusa Sereia, or simply as A Doce Senhora. Indelibly associated with the river, they act as guardians who can bring blessings, protection, or punishment. Variations of their story exist across multiple tribes, with few differences. An interesting detail that carries across nearly every account is that some who seek them may be gifted with the ability to speak their language. Those people who do are--…_ "


End file.
